


If Only She Knew

by backtothestart02



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon Divergent, F/M, Humor, Puberty, Romance, camping trip, teen!westallen, wet dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2020-07-29 12:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20082304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backtothestart02/pseuds/backtothestart02
Summary: HS!AU - Barry, Joe and Iris go camping the year Barry hits puberty.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when I'm going to update this, and I'm so sorry for that. I should not have started another multi-chap. (This is my 20th TF WIP!!!) I fully intended to write it all at once, but it was for the westallen meet-up fanfiction event and I was running on fumes trying to write as many fics as I could with almost zero motivation. So, I hope you'll forgive me and just be patient with this one. I do fully intend to come back to it b/c it's an idea I've had for a while, but as of right now, this is the only chapter you're going to get. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> *Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.

Barry stood in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom, the one that now cut off at mid-calf due to his recent growth spurt, and tried very hard not to be depressed. To put it simply, his summer body was not something to be desired.

He couldn’t gain weight if he tried. He was white as chalk, skinny as a string bean, and almost completely devoid of muscle on his thin frame. In recent weeks, he’d tried to take up running but found he hated it. He tried lifting weights after that but felt so embarrassed by amused glances from onlookers when he put the smallest amount of weight on the bars that he abandoned the effort to save his pride. Swimming he was okay at, but it seemed the pool was crowded more often than not. His long limbs had him always bumping into people. The stationary bikes upstairs in the gym had probably proved the most successful in his endeavor to get that long-coveted summer body, but in the end they only strengthened his legs, which made his upper half look more or less disproportionate in comparison.

All things considered, there was no way Iris would be seeing him the way he had started seeing her – and that was even without the summer body.

Iris was his best friend for as far back as he could remember. Maybe since 3rd grade? He’d moved in with her and her dad, Joe, after his mother had been murdered and his father unjustly convicted for the crime. He was angry, though not as much as he had been when he’d first arrived, especially not around Iris. She obviously couldn’t totally relate to his situation, but she understood. She’d lost her mother when she was young too. He felt connected to her, not just in that, but in everything. Which was kind of ironic since the only thing they had in common, besides age and loss of their mothers, was their passion for finding out the truth and fighting to prove it.

Iris said she didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up, though Barry knew she was secretly plotting to join the police academy just to mess with her dad. He’d been itching to tell her she should look into journalism, especially given how much she’d enjoyed that elective this past semester, but she wouldn’t talk about her future.

“We’re only in our second year of high school, Barry!” she’d reminded him. “We have our whole lives to figure out what we want to do!”

That seemed a bit reckless, if you asked him, but he dropped it. If she wanted to rebel against her dad’s stringent rules, he’d simply wait until the phase had passed and bring up the topic again once she started her freshman year of college. He knew how much she valued her education.

“Bear, you almost ready?”

Pulled from his thoughts, Barry looked towards the cracked door on the other side of his room. Then he looked at the two bags on his bed that were only half-filled and blew his side bangs out of his face.

“Bear?” Joe repeated.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” He hastily shoved the remainder of what he needed in the bags and just hoped he wasn’t forgetting anything. “Just give me, like, five minutes!”

He was almost out the door when he realized abruptly that the only things he had on were his blue-and-white striped boxers and his too-tall white socks. Turning a bright red at the possibility of running into Iris in the hallway looking like that, he dropped his bags and quickly pulled out the t-shirt and shorts he’d been planning to wear today.

“Baaarryyyy,” he heard from down the hall and hastily shoved his sandals into the bag that was still unzipped and forcefully stuck his oversized feet into his dusty old tennis shoes.

Iris knocked a couple times in a staccato motion, then pushed the door open. She giggled and leaned against the doorway when he turned to face her, still looking panicked.

“You ready, you big goof? Or do I have to tell my dad another extension is in order?” She raised an eyebrow.

“No! No, of _course_ not,” he squeaked, and she covered her mouth to stifle another bout of laughter.

Barry cleared his throat. “I’m ready.”

He took the two steps to his bed to slide the bag straps of his duffels over his shoulder. Then he promptly tripped over the buckle from the strap on the third bag he’d opted not to use, sending his bags and himself flying.

“Oh, my God, Barry!” she cried, but she was giggling when she half-caught him and could do nothing more than make their landing a little smoother.

“I’m sorry, Iris,” he said, his voice muffled against what he suddenly realized was the fabric of her shirt just a few inches below her breasts. His heart started pounding and sweat beaded on his forehead. He could only be grateful that she wasn’t aware of his condition.

“It’s all right, Barry,” she said, playing with his locks for a minute before pushing them off his face. “I’m sure I would’ve tripped too.”

He cleared his throat and slowly sat up. “Right. Yeah.”

“Hey, guys!” Joe called from the bottom of the stairs. “Today? It’s a six-hour drive to Lake Muna!”

“Uh-oh, someone’s mad,” Iris snickered under her breath, but she took Barry’s hand firmly and stood to her feet. “We’re coming, Dad!”

“I’ll be in the car,” he said loudly. “Both your asses better be in there before I buckle my seatbelt.”

“Yeah, okay!” Iris called back and then took one of Barry’s bags as she headed down the hall moments after the front door shut behind Joe.

“Iris, you don’t have to-”

“What do you have in this thing? Bowling balls?”

His face went white. “I can carr-”

“Relax, Bear,” she said, looking back at him over her shoulder for a bit, batting her eyelashes as if to flirt, but Barry knew it was innocent. “All my stuff is in the car already, and I know for a fact you don’t own a bowling ball.”

“Right.”

He forced a smile, then followed her down the stairs and out the door, locking it behind him.

Going camping with Joe and Iris every summer was always a fun experience. He was sure he would enjoy it.

It didn’t matter that in the last two weeks he’d woken up to more than one erection or that he’d daydreamed about Iris naked. That had to be totally normal and wasn’t related whatsoever to the fact that he’d been in love with her since he’d learned what the word love meant. He knew sexual urges were inevitable as soon as he hit puberty; for any girl he was attracted to, not just Iris – and yeah, he took longer than most. But he hadn’t known exactly what to expect.

Surely, though, Joe had caught the signs. He was observant like that, being a detective and all. He wouldn’t make him do anything uncomfortable or unusual, especially when it came to Iris.

Right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated sooner than I thought it would be due to andromidagalaxie commissioning it on tumblr. Enjoy! :)
> 
> Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.

Barry had never been as still in all his life as he was right now, with Iris’ head on his shoulder and the back of her hand against his knee, and him hardly daring to breathe if she moved either any further.

The fact was, it was happening again. He was getting a boner.

He’d been getting them the last few weeks – not just around Iris, around other girls too, and at super inconvenient times, but especially when Iris was present. He’d taken to wearing extra-long t-shirts and baggy pants until Iris took note and questioned his fashion. Then she’d tried to take him shopping, and he absolutely put his foot down to that. He’d never be able to hide it then.

How Joe hadn’t caught on to his increasing anxiety over this new dilemma never ceased to exasperate him. _How could he not know?_

Or maybe he did know, and he just wasn’t saying anything.

_Nah, Joe wouldn’t be that cruel_, Barry thought confidently.

But his inward grin started to fade as his self-assurance wavered, and he grew wary of Joe’s true intentions.

“Hey, you two ready to get something to eat?” Joe asked, loud enough to rouse Iris from her sleep, but not too loud that she would complain about it.

“Mm, yes,” she said, nuzzling into Barry’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around his beside her. “Pancakes, please.”

Joe shifted his gaze to Barry’s extremely pale one in the rearview mirror.

“What about you, Bear?”

“I’m good,” he said, appetite gone, though his stomach would probably say otherwise.

“You like pancakes too, remember?” Iris mumbled against his shirt.

“Oh. That’s…you’re right, Iris. I do like pancakes.”

“Blueberry ones,” she reminded him.

“Mhmm, blueberry ones,” he said, more to get her to stop talking than because he remembered.

Meanwhile, Joe was still eyeing him suspiciously in the mirror.

“So… Mama Bear’s Diner?”

“Yessss,” Iris slurred.

“Sounds good,” Barry forced.

Joe stared a few moments more and then focused back on the road.

“We should be there in roughly twenty minutes.”

…

Mama Bear’s Breakfast Diner served only breakfast all day, every day. But it was tradition to stop there on the way to and from the campsite every year, no matter what time of day it was. No one refused. Barry would die for their pancakes, Joe would do just about anything for their scrambled eggs, and Iris was a glutton for the French toast and muffins.

From the outside, the diner looked like a normal house, but on the inside, it was a log cabin of the coziest sort. There were always tulips planted and a slightly moving white rocking chair on the white-painted porch by entrance. Which was kind of creepy now that Barry thought about it. He wondered if he should tell Iris about that observation. He turned to see her a few steps behind him, swinging her arms in an effort to let momentum catch up with him. Joe was behind her, apparently oblivious to all things. Barry wished he wasn’t.

“Hold up, Barry! You’re going too fast!”

Since she was out of breath, Barry slowed down a hair and, as expected, Iris was then not only able to match his pace but also loop her arm through his the way she had in the car.

She was so darn affectionate. And he loved that about her. But he hated this puberty thing, because now every little thing she did – a look, a touch – if it was directed at him, the normally dormant length of flesh in his underwear came to life. Somehow, Iris hadn’t noticed that fact yet, but it was only a matter of time until she did. Every moment he was preparing himself for the utter humiliation.

Three steps up to the peeling white-painted porch and they were inside.

It was the perfect temperature, as it tended to be, with air conditioning circling and spreading through the restaurant, even as the real fireplace warmed the far side of the restaurant. A small area was bare of table and chairs for the live music that came on Friday nights, and every single member had a red-and-white checkered shirt on that reminded Barry of a picnic tablecloth.

He liked it, though. He liked this place. And Iris, of course, was right. He was practically salivating already at the thought of consuming a couple stacks of their blueberry pancakes with whipped cream.

“I love it here.” Iris sighed dreamily, looking about the place as if she’d never seen it before. “We’ll have to come home on Friday night, so we can stop here along the way and listen to the live music.” She spun around to Joe. “Please, Dad? Please, please, please?”

She pulled out her batting eyelashes and pouty lips, and Barry knew Joe wouldn’t be able to resist. Who could say no to Iris when she knew exactly how to make you putty in her hands?

To Joe’s credit, he gave a valiant effort.

“But what about the fireworks on Saturday night, honey? You love those.”

“Can’t we do both?”

Joe chuckled nervously.

“This diner is much closer to home than it is to the campsite. You’d hate all the driving.”

Her eyes lit up as an idea came to her. “Barry could drive!”

And that was when Barry knew he was in hell.

Joe’s gaze shifted to his, making matters worse.

“All you’d have to do was be in the car, Dad. You can even sleep!”

Alarmed, Barry’s eyes widened, and he stared at her.

“I’ve only had my permit a week, Iris!”

She frowned and turned to look at him. Apparently, Joe was getting a kick out of it.

“If Barry’s okay with it, I’m okay with it.”

Barry’s mouth fell open.

“Please, Barry, pleeeease.” She intertwined her fingers in a folded hands stance as she pleaded, accompanying it with those beautiful batting eyelashes and perfect pouting lips. She got closer and closer the longer he stayed silent.

“Iris…”

“Please, Barry, I’ll do anything you want.”

That made him blush.

“Within reason, of course.”

He cleared his throat. “Of course.”

“Of course?” Her eyes lit up happily. “Of course!” She jumped into his arms.

“Wait, Iris, no-”

“Daddy, he said of course!” She turned and hugged her dad too.

“Iris, I didn’t mean-”

“That’s great, sweetheart,” Joe said, grinning.

Iris was still jumping up and down when the host appeared.

“What’s the occasion?” the woman asked.

“Barry’s bringing us back for the live music on Friday!”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, that’s wonderful.” She looked around to see where Barry was and saw Joe pointing in his direction, while Barry himself looked not very pleased at his current predicament.

She quietly laughed to herself.

“We have a great country band coming this Friday,” the host added. “They’ll have you dancing in no time.”

“Dancing,” Iris said, mesmerized as she and the two guys who’d come with her followed the host to their seats.

Barry was frowning in a confused manner because he couldn’t remember Iris ever liking country music.

Joe was frowning because he hated it.

…

At approximately 4 p.m. that afternoon, the West/Allen family made it to the Lake Muna campground.

The lake could be seen only from Iris and Joe’s side of the car, so Barry was given a brief reprieve from her snuggles. Still, he did miss her warmth, and he did want to see the lake through all the trees surrounding them on the dirt road.

“Oh, Daddy, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Iris swooned.

“Mhmm,” Joe agreed. “Should make for some good fishing too.”

Iris rolled her eyes, then looked behind her.

“Barry, what do you think abou-” She frowned. “What are you doing all the way over there? Don’t you want to see the lake better?”

“Uh…” His mouth went dry. “My… My seatbelt won’t reach.” He blushed fiercely.

“You’re so weird, Barry,” she said and climbed over to him to unbuckle his belt. “C’mon.”

He looked to Joe once to see if he’d interject but got nothing from that sector, despite him being a cop who should care about things like seatbelts being taken off when the car was still in motion.

So, he crawled across the seat with Iris and looked out the window. He kneeled on the floor so his lap couldn’t be presented to Iris where she sat on the seat, but once he’d calmed himself down enough to assure there wouldn’t be any unfortunate incidents due to him moving across the seat, he was glad that he did.

The view was breathtaking.

“See? Aren’t you glad you broke that silly law?” She giggled, ignoring her Dad’s slight glare in the rearview mirror.

Barry ignored it too, for his own sanity, and only nodded.

“It’s beautiful.”

Iris sighed contently and leaned her face against the side of the window.

“This is going to be the best year ever.”

He smiled, then turned to look at her, lost in the view of the lake. Barry was lost in her and completely oblivious to if Joe was catching the moment or not.

“I’ll be right back,” Joe said, coming to a stop in the parking lot, so he could go in and confirm their reservation.

He took one step outside of the car and cursed.

Barry and Iris’ moment was broken, and they turned to see what was wrong.

“We may have a bit of a problem, kids.” Joe pressed his fingers to his creased brow.

“What is it, Dad?” Iris asked, Barry following her out of the car.

They didn’t know how, but one of the tents had gotten caught and torn. It would be no good to any of them, even if they wanted to duct tape the tears back together. Joe knew full well the tents for purchase were three times the price they were back home. Troubled, he contemplated a solution.

“Well, I guess there’s only one solution here,” Joe said.

The two turned to look at him.

“What’s that?” Iris asked.

Barry was afraid to breathe.

“You two will have to share a tent. You can have mine. I’ll take the smaller one.”

Barry paled, horrified.

Iris, as per usual, was thrilled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another commissioned chapter.
> 
> Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.

Barry was in hell.

Unable to look away from Iris’ cute butt as she walked in front of him, he was just glad Joe wasn’t along for the walk to the lake which Iris had insisted her best friend take with her.

It was tradition, after all, that they go check out the campgrounds as soon as the tents were set up. Joe was dozing in a hammock, as he tended to do once they had a chance to relax. His only request was that they come back by sunset so they could all have dinner together. Other than that, they were on their own.

Barry groaned inwardly.

It wasn’t just Iris in those short, short jean shorts that nearly had the bottom of her butt cheeks peeking out that threw Barry for a loop. It was the dark hair that lay just past her shoulders, and the smile that always took his breath away every time she turned back to look at him. And those eyes – _God._ He’d do anything she asked of him when she looked at him with those eyes.

Which was pretty much how she’d gotten him to go on the short walk to the lake to begin with.

“Oh, _Barry_,” she said, coming to a halt and staring, breathless, straight ahead.

Barry forced himself to look away from her and straight ahead where she was gazing, awestruck. She clasped her hands together and giggled a little.

“Well, come on!”

She grabbed his hand and sprinted towards the beach. It was the smaller one, so there were only a couple people and they were on the other end.

“We have to come here at sunrise, Bear.”

He groaned inwardly. “Iris, you know I’m not a morning person.”

She shrugged, unthwarted. “Neither am I. You know that. But…sunrise.” She gestured to the lake and wiggled her fingers, smiling like the silly, unbelievably attractive teenager she was.

“Okay,” he said, with a lazy grin. “You win.”

“Yes!” She pumped her fist, then dragged him along again. She kicked off her shoes, then encouraged him to do the same. “Let’s walk around the lake. We can walk in the water where the sand disappears.”

Reluctantly, he went with her, then nearly jumped out of his skin the first time he had to dip his toe in the water.

“It’s freezing!”

Iris rolled her eyes. “Baby.” And jogged ahead in the water till she was knee-deep and on to the next beach.

The bottom of Barry’s board shorts got wet in the process of following the girl of his dreams, but he held his breath, counted to ten, and forced himself to go after her. Despite his longer legs, Iris easily beat him to the next beach. She stood there laughing at him and covering her mouth as she did so. Barry glanced down at her legs, soaked and dripping from the knees down, and found even _that_ to be a turn on.

“Tomorrow we’ll go swimming,” she said, looping her arm through his when he’d joined her. “And you’ll have to go fishing with my dad or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

Her hip lightly brushed his as they walked, and he knew this trip would be the death of him. He knew it like he knew equations and science and the origin of species and diseases which Iris would wrinkle her nose at. He knew it like he knew his own name.

And sleeping in the same tent with her? Good God, he would not survive this.

“The lake is pretty,” he allowed, forcing himself to pay attention to the nature around them and not to what her close proximity was doing to him.

“Mhmm. Told you.”

“I suppose waking up at the crack of dawn to see the sun rise over the water wouldn’t be the worst thing.” There was a grin in his voice, and Iris’ eyes sparkled when she turned to see it.

“It’ll be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, Barry. Trust me on this.”

_Second most beautiful_, he nearly said out loud but then stopped himself.

He could not reveal his feelings for her. He could not. It might ruin their whole friendship, and with them living in the same house, there was no way he could allow that. He couldn’t lose her, no matter the cost. And besides, she’d never consider him for a boyfriend. She was so far out of his league that he didn’t stand a chance.

But man, the things she did to him.

“We should find sticks,” he said, to get out of his own head.

Her brows furrowed. “Sticks? What for?”

“Marshmallows!”

“Oh! For s’mores!” she declared excitedly, and he nodded. She grabbed his hand and turned them around. “Come on, we have to go back to get our shoes. Then I know exactly where to go.”

He had a pretty good feeling where she was thinking, especially since they went to this same campground every year. But he let her pretend it was a surprise to him.

Before he could chuckle at the irony of the situation, he realized that in order to get their shoes, they would have to go back into the cold water.

“Iris, maybe we could just… I mean…”

She spun around from the distance she’d gained on him, already ankle-deep in the water.

“What?”

He gestured to the road at the top of the hill. She rolled her eyes.

“What are you going to do tomorrow when we go swimming?” she deadpanned. “Which, by the way, isn’t optional.”

He sighed, giving up the fight, and walked to where she was. She smiled brilliantly.

“You don’t want to walk on a gravel road anyway,” she said, pulling him along. “You’d get cuts on your feet.”

Barry decided not to mention the fact that the part of the road they were close to had been smoothed over with asphalt. She was too happy and carefree that he was coming with her, he couldn’t bear to disappoint her.

“Am I right or am I right?” she asked as she trudged through the knee-deep water again.

His eyes landed on her jean-covered butt again, and the temperature of the water soon left his mind.

“You’re right, of course,” he said, tugging his long t-shirt down to cover the start of his second boner that day.

“Of course I am,” she beamed, and he just thanked his lucky stars she didn’t turn around again until they reached the first beach.

She would absolutely, 100%, be the death of him.

…

The sun had started to set by the time Barry and Iris came back from exploring the campground.

“Where have you two been?” Joe asked, grilling some hot dogs and burgers over the campfire pit.

“Just off exploring,” Iris said.

“Oh, yeah? What are all those sticks for?” Joe asked, catching sight of the numerous ones in both Barry and Iris’ hands.

“Marshmallows, what else?” Iris asked, and Joe and Barry shared a quick look, nodding knowingly.

“Of course,” Joe said complacently and turned his cheek towards Iris so she could press a quick kiss to it.

“Dinner looks great, Joe,” Barry said, practically salivating.

Joe looked amused. “There are some chips and soda in the back of the truck if you guys want to grab them.”

“Oh, come on, Barry! Let’s go!” she said, excited as she’d never seen her to get chips and soda.

“What has gotten into you?” he asked her when they found the stash exactly where they’d been directed to. He couldn’t help smiling at how bubbly she was, but he still wondered why.

“What are you talking about?” she asked, sounding just a little bit nervous.

Barry shrugged. “You’re just so…excited.”

“I’ve always loved going on our family camping trip.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“What?”

“This year you seem _extra_ excited.”

She shrugged. “I guess I have good reason to be.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?” He couldn’t help leaning in.

She tuned to look up at him. For a moment she could hardly breathe. He was so close. Then she shook herself out of it, wondering what had gotten into her.

“I…” she cleared her throat. “Am going to hike to the top of Devil’s Canyon,” she said.

Barry’s eyes widened. “You are?”

“Yep,” she popped the ‘p’. “And you are coming with me.”

He paled just before she snatched up the chips and soda and headed around the vehicle.

“I- _What?!_”

“You’re not telling my dad either.”

“Iris.”

She started to hum to herself as she neared where her father sat cooking their meal.

“Iris!”

He ran after her, determined to dissuade her, but she was already sitting and munching on a hot dog by the time he reached her.

“Son, you look out of breath. Why don’t you sit down? Have a hot dog,” Joe said, looking at Barry somewhat concerned.

“I… Oh, all right.”

He took his seat on the other side of Joe, ignoring Iris’ brief frown before her expression morphed into pure bliss.

“It’s going to be a beautiful sunset,” Joe remarked when he’d finished his dinner and was starting to put things away. “You two should go down to see it.”

Barry interrupted Iris before she could agree with her dad.

“I think we should all go!”

Iris looked at him curiously. Joe mirrored her gaze.

“You’ve been napping and setting things up all afternoon, Joe. You should come enjoy the nature part too.”

“I guess you’re right, Barry. I think I will. Then when we get back, we can make smores.”

Barry grinned. “Sounds great.”

But Iris was strangely silent, and Barry knew with every fiber of his being what she was thinking.

That he was up to something.

She wasn’t going to accuse him of that in front of her dad, though.

Instead, she helped clean up, and a little while later she caught Barry’s glance as they were walking down to the lake with Joe at the lead. She saw him grin and immediately frowned. He sidled up next to her and lowered his voice to a whisper.

“What’s the matter, Iris?” he teased, hoping to get a rise out of her after she’d burdened him with the secret plan that Joe would no doubt hate if he knew. And forbid. “Don’t sunsets get the same appreciation as sunrises?” He winked.

She huffed and walked away from him, swaying her hips as she did so, almost as if she _knew_ it would get to him.

And that, Barry realized, horrified him the most.


End file.
